QUBE Enterprise Agreement- 19 April

Apr 19, 2024Employer News QUBE

What Sneaky QUBE Management has done and not advised you of?

Made changes to clause 4.2 to say the following:

“Upon incorporating Award terms into the Agreement, the incorporated Award terms are to be read as altered with the appropriate changes to make them provisions of the Agreement rather than provisions of the Award, save that the loaded Hourly or Normal Rates in this Agreement continue to include and offset any shift/weekend penalties or loadings and any allowances, otherwise payable under the Award (including as incorporated), unless the terms of this Agreement expressly provide otherwise.”

QUBE is so desperate to convince you that the rates of pay in the previous 2015 and 2019 Enterprise Agreements have always been Loaded Rates. By making changes to Clause 4.2, QUBE is clearly aware that the rates in the current Agreement are not loaded. QUBE must be at their wit’s end, with this change to Clause 4.2 “save that the loaded Hourly or Normal Rates in this Agreement continue”. This desperate act is clearly an attack by QUBE to ensure that your rates remain inferior.

Intractable Bargaining

If this agreement gets voted in by you, then the Intractable Bargaining application disappears. Whilst it has been a prolonged journey to get to where we are with so many steps, we have commenced the final step for Intractable Bargaining. The wheels are in motion, and a “NO” vote will not extend the time that intractable bargaining takes. Only one other EA in the country has made it to that point, and we are there now, and a “yes” vote would put all of that to waste. Just remember, QUBE locked you out for 13 days. This is just another example of the hard work done by your RTBU Locomotive Division to get the best outcome for you. We are making legal history together, just like we did with NSW and Sydney Trains.

QUBE’s Backflips

QUBE Management laughed and said there is no chance of backpay, however backpay is back on the table with an amount they have never offered before.

QUBE reintroduced 9 items for negotiations, however these items are back in the agreement without any discussion OR agreement with you or your negotiating team.

QUBE previously agreed to increase the Drivers Trainers’ rate to $62.83, yet the rate has been reduced to $60.41.

QUBE previously refused to make any pay rises close to what they are offering now, why have they now backflipped after everything we have gone through?

QUBE has had so many backflips that one might think they’re training for the next Olympics in gymnastics. While they wouldn’t win any medals, they certainly would be excellent performers. But why have they done some many backflips? QUBE want you to believe that this is the best deal going around. Don’t let yourself and your fellow workmates be tricked into QUBE’s backflipped back pay offer.

Is the Back Pay offer worth more than adding weekend and shift penalties to your current base rate of pay? On average, you will work around 30 Sundays in a year. If you worked 10 hours on a Sunday, that would be 10 X your current rate. Let’s say that is $51.45 per hour, which would equal $514.50. Now let’s double it – $1029. If you worked just 10 Sundays, that’s $5,145, 20 Sundays = $10,290 and 30 Sundays = $15,435.

This is just a portion of what we are fighting for, a yes vote for this agreement would remove this going forward. QUBE Management is out and about.

QUBE Management are out and about confusing members in the process. Don’t listen to their lies. Ask them to tell the truth. QUBE Management are in a massive panic as we draw closer to the Intractable Bargaining Declaration and the Federal Court. They will tell you anything to try and save themselves from the mess they have created, just so that you will vote yes for their inferior Enterprise Agreement.

Don’t be fooled by QUBE Management

Loaded Rates are only good if they are valued at the right rate. What QUBE is offering is far below what you are worth and far below any other Rail Operator. They want to make millions from your hard work and make the boss richer. Remember Dan Coulton’s favourite saying: “wouldn’t feed strawberries to pigs”? Well, nothing has changed.

Together as a team, we will fight all the way to make sure you receive backpay.

Check your emails as a Teams Video Conference invite will be sent through for you to have your say.